Over the last week I have fished the lower end of the Clinch several times, and after not being on the river since mid-March I was stunned by how poor the fish over 14" look. They are in the worst condition I have ever seen them, extremely skinny and appear to be near death or recovering from a near death experience.

Has anyone else noticed this? I have probably had my hands on 40 fish in the 14"-18" size range in a couple of days in the last week and every one looked terrible.

Would love to hear opinions on what would cause this? Was it the low water for so long? Was it the sediment load in the river during the low water? Was it the lack of a large sulphur hacth? Illness in the river? Or all the above.